K.L.

Being back in K.L. is fun, although somewhat tiring. It is such a BUSY city. And huge. Also, it is not exactly a pedestrian-friendly city. Malaysians seem to be very devoted to their cars and never leave them at home, so you have to be alert all the time so you don't get run over crossing the road.

I have not been run over yet. Don't worry. I am being very careful.

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The Man and I visited Midvalley Complex (or Mall, or something) today looking for a carry-on bag for me when I fly out, to carry all the extra stuff, and discovered that the HUUUGE mall had only a couple of shops selling bags, and they were expensive. We had fun anyway, though, and it was a successful shopping trip even though we didn't get what we thought we were after.

What we got instead was a new adaptor for my Palm. I discovered, the first time I tried to charge it, on this, its first trip, that apparently when you get mobile devices from the U.S. their adaptors get fried when you try to recharge them in any other country. Japan and the U.S. are pretty much the same, so I'd had no problem using it in Japan, but the first thing I did when I got it here was to plug it in and render the adaptor instantly unusable. It hadn't even occurred to me to check whether I needed a converter because I've had no problem with devices bought in Japan (camera battery charger, iPod). I toasted the adaptor and not the Palm itself, fortunately, but still, it has taken until today to find another one. The new adaptor is supposed to work with anything from 110v to 220v, but still, I'm not risking it. I'm using it with a converter as long as I'm here.

How can they call it a 'mobile' device when it requires you to carry around a bulky, heavy converter just so you can recharge it? Does 'mobile' in the U.S. actually mean 'mobile only if you don't actually take it anywhere'?

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On our way back from our shopping trip, a little kitten had found its way onto the train platform and was wandering around trying to make friends. Some guy was sitting on the steps down to the platform, looking cool, and soon discovered that it was impossible to remain looking cool with a kitten on his lap. He brushed it off and stood up, trying to regain his cool, but it wasn't any easier standing up because the kitten started chasing its tail right in front of him. Can anybody look cool while they're watching a kitten go bananas? I know I can't. He couldn't, either.

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My friend bumped into two of her students today. Oh, the horror! Who wants to be reminded of work when they're on holiday?

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While we were having dinner, The Man and I were watching some other foreigners eating Chinese food. They hadn't watched how the locals eat, apparently, because they were having terrible trouble picking up slippery bits of chicken with slippery plastic chopsticks. But everybody around them was eating using chopsticks AND a spoon. You use the chopsticks like a shovel, pushing the bits onto the spoon. Easy! They ended up tearing at the bits of chicken with their fingers, and it was all very messy.

We had a delicious meal. We had claypot mushroom noodles, sweet and sour pork, fried rice, and some green vegetable stirfried in oyster sauce. It was all washed down with Chinese tea, and I am now feeling very, very sleepy.

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Only two days left. I do not want to go home. When I go home, I will have to start preparing for work to start. It is very difficult to think about work.

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OK, lah!